Nofrat Frenkel is a fifth-year medical student in Israel and an active member of the Masorti kehillah in Kfar Saba. This was translated from the Hebrew.

TheKotelbelongs to all the people of Israel. TheKotelis not a Haredi synagogue, and the Women of the Wall will not allow it to become such.

I was banned from visiting theKotelfor two weeks, and a criminal file has been opened against me. I hope that the file will be closed, especially so that my medical studies will not be jeopardized. Perhaps, with God’s help, this regretful event will awaken wide public objection, enough for the high court to re-evaluate its decision and annul it.

Jerusalem is the city of holiness and justice for all humankind. From Zion, the voice calling for equality should be heard, for boundless love, for better understanding between people. Jerusalem has already been destroyed, due to unfounded hatred. Let us hope it will not happen again.

...And so, as it came time to read Torah, we had a quick conversation - "It's quiet today. Can we just read here?" Anat Hoffman, director of the Israeli Religious Action Center, and member of the board of Women of the Wall, took a quick poll of other board members, and consensus was quickly reached.

I began to feel excitement building among the group - an energy that I felt was lacking up to that point suddenly began to hum through the assembled women. "We have a new Torah!" Anat declared, "that was given to us by the Women of Reform Judaism at the Biennial in Toronto. It only weighs four kilos!"

Nofrat, a fourth-year medical student in Beer Sheva, who wakes up every month at 4am to get to Jerusalem in time for the service, was to read. She wrapped herself in her tallit (outside of her jacket), and we began the Torah service. And then everything started to go haywire.

The arrest of Nofrat Frankel in the women's section of the Wall, and, if reports are correct, the fact that she was held in custody for two-and-a-half hours, insults all Israelis who believe in the rule of law and freedom of religion, no matter how religious or non-religious.

…I support the compromise whereby women and mixed groups of men and women can pray at the Southern Wall [Excavations] - under Robinson's Arch, while the Western Wall Plaza follows the protocols of an Orthodox synagogue.

A sign instructing separation between men and women which was posted in the Western Wall's upper square was removed Tuesday by the site's employees.

The act follows claims according to which the holy site has been taken over by haredim employing strict modesty codes and led by Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz.

In addition, Israeli flags have been recently placed at the square, that have been missing in the last years. Their removal was also attributed to the ultra-Orthodox dominance at the site and was allegedly aimed to clear the Western Wall of Zionist characteristics.

The Western Wall is meant to be a place of worship for all. However, it appears that Zionist overtones are not well-received there. Pages with the prayer for the State ofIsraelon them and a special prayer for the welfare of IDF soldiers were found ripped out of prayer books at the site.

Knesset Member Uri Orbach (Habayit Hayehudi):

"The Kotel, beyond being a holy site and a place of worship, is a symbol of Jewish heritage that touches all of the Jewish public. Creating a stringent haredi atmosphere at the Kotel will push away anyone who isn't Haredi.”

United Torah Judaismcouncil members in the Jerusalem Municipality sent a harsh letter Thursday to Mayor Nir Barkat protesting the municipality's promotion of a festival they say desecrates the Sabbath.

Jerusalem municipal officials said the events involving Shabbat desecration had been removed from electronic publications and that the production company had made a copying error in its ads.

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party is expected to appeal a bill that would help identify women who falsely claim to be religious in order to avoid mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces.

The new law is meant to allow the IDF to immediately recruit girls who falsely report their status. But Shas ministers blamed the Ministerial Committee for Legislation last week for carrying out "underhanded" opportunism. They said the panel voted on the proposal without the knowledge of Haredi parties in order to keep them from rejecting the bill.

Major-General Avi Zamir, head of the Israel Defense Forces Personnel Directorate told the [Knesset] committee members about meetings he had with the leaders of the union of hesder yeshivot, which combine advanced Talmudic studies with military service, during which he demanded a public and sweeping condemnation of all cases of disobedience.

"During the meeting, I presented the serious incident as it is perceived by the IDF. I asked whether it is worthwhile recruiting hesder yeshiva students, who are educated this way. I demanded actions, not just a condemnation."

Leading religious Zionist rabbis convened late Sunday night in Jerusalem and reiterated their support for soldiers who refuse to follow IDF orders calling to evacuate Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria.

"Our position is that we oppose all insubordination that impedes the IDF's mission of protecting the Jewish people," said Kochav Ya'acov's Rabbi Mordechai Rabinovitch, who is also the spokesman for the rabbis who call themselves "The Path of Faith" (Derech Emuna).

The clandestine gathering of the heads of the hesder yeshivas (which combine Torah study with military service) this week in Jerusalem let the cat out of the bag.

Anyone who thinks it really is possible to describe those from the hesder yeshivas who raise signs and oppose evacuation as "refuseniks" must now understand that the old definitions no longer suit the settlers' domination of the Israeli reality.

The poll found that 39% blamed the IDF for disobedience during outpost evacuation, due to the fact that army commanders were giving orders which soldiers could not carry out. Some 38% claimed that the rabbis were responsible for insubordination, citing atmosphere in yeshivas as the cause.

An analysis of the results shows that the religious public blamed the IDF, whereas the seculars mostly blamed the rabbis (49%), but also the army (27%).

Some 40% of respondents said that the rabbis were the most influential figures on refuseniks, 39% pointed to friends and close community, 16% named family members, 7% pointed to the media and 3% said that authors and intellectuals were most influential on refuseniks.

A poll analysis indicated that the secular public pointed to the rabbis as influential figures (46%), whereas the Masorti public was divided between friends and close community (35% each).

Among the ultra-Orthodox and religious communities it was the soldier's environment which was deemed most influential (38% and 30% respectively).

Rightist rabbis, who have used halachic justifications to object to the Shalit prisoner swap deal in the works, are irresponsible, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger told Ynet on Tuesday.

"As long as a rabbi or halachic adjudicator does not have all the information laid before him, including IDF and intelligence reports, it is not possible to take a decisive halachic stand (on the issue)," Rabbi Metzger said.

"Halacha must not be ruled upon based on reports from the Arab media."

Members of an opposition faction at the Tel Aviv municipality said in a petition to the High Court that the city's religious council does not reflect the city council's composition, as required by law.

The petition filed by the head of the Ir Lekulanu (City for All) faction, Aharon Maduel, said factions far smaller than itself - such as those of Shas and Likud - received greater representation on the religious council than it did.

The religious council of Be'er Sheva is currently the focus of a legal battle between the city and Religious Services Minister Yaakov Margi, after the municipality petitioned the High Court of Justice to demand Margi explain his failure to approve the council's makeup.

The city submitted the list of people that it had selected to sit on the city's religious council to Margi's office two weeks ago, but Margi has not approved it. Other religious councils in additional cities are also awaiting the Shas minister's approval.

Officials close to discussions between the Jewish Agency and the government over helping to shore up the agency's financial condition have toldThe Jerusalem Postin recent days that under no circumstances will the government directly fund the agency.

At the heart of the issue is the Jewish Agency's legal status abroad. If it receives direct Israeli government funding, the agency and its donor organizations could lose their tax-exempt standing in their home countries.

This amount isan advance against the sale of housing units, and secured by same,from the Jewish Agency’s subsidiary company, Amigour, for units that will be sold over the next several years.

We have also learned there is no plan for any government money to go into the Jewish Agency budget.

The government is acting strictly as a lender, and not as a funder. We have also been assured there is no interest on either the government’s part, or the Agency’s part, to alter the current legal structure between the two, a step that would be necessary if the government were to directly fund the Agency.

Immigrants who came to Israel with the assistance of Nefesh B'Nefesh have contributed a net sum of NIS 808 million to the Israeli economy, according to a study commissioned by the organization and released Monday.

In addition to raising funds for non-profits, Ben-Dor said he hopes IsraelGives will democratize Israeli philanthropy and encourage transparency among charities, which are ranked higher on the site as they submit more information about themselves.

The website enables NGOs to share information about their projects and activities in the form of papers and other documents, photos and video clips in their profiles. The site encourages transparency by rewarding those organizations that reveal more information about themselves with a higher ranking in the site's search engine.

The Jewish Agency has come under fire this week from officials operating short-term Israel programs for Diaspora teenagers who criticized the agency for "omitting a crucial element from its plan to bolster Israel programs by purposefully ignoring teenagers."

Gideon Shavit, co-chairman of Lapid - a new coalition for 24 organizations that bring Jewish high school pupils to Israel from the U.S., South America and Europe - said:

"The issue of Israel programs for high school students has been intentionally kept off the agenda by the Jewish Agency to allow it to push its own programs."

Arkia Airlines and the Jewish Agency signed a cooperation deal on Sunday to fly Jewish immigrants to Israel, putting an end to El Al's monopoly as the only Israeli airline that flies immigrants into the country.

News stories about young Jewish bigots in the Old City spitting on Christian clergy - who make conspicuous targets in their long dark robes and crucifix symbols around their necks - surface in the media every few years or so.

It's natural, then, to conclude that such incidents are rare, but in fact they are habitual.

Anti-Christian Orthodox Jews, overwhelmingly boys and young men, have been spitting with regularity on priests and nuns in the Old City for about 20 years, and the problem is only getting worse.

…The only Israeli authority who has shown any serious concern over this matter, the one high official whom Christian and Jewish interfaith activists credit for stepping into the fray, is Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger.

The writer is a professor of education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Although most of the Jewish population of Israel is secular and therefore seemingly unaffected politically by God's promise of the land to Abraham in Genesis, it appears the divine promise that "I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land of thy sojournings" holds ancient power.

The pull is unconscious for most but very deep, which has an effect on most Israelis.

In a joint initiative between Hebrew University, the Knesset, and the Ministry of Education, Jewish studies experts from Hebrew University will give courses to Israeli parliamentarians on the Jewish Bible.

Professors Yair Zakovich (Department of Bible) and Avigdor Shinan (Department of Hebrew Literature) of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University will arrive at the Knesset building this Tuesday, to begin a series of meetings on "Personalities in the Bible and Midrash". The courses will also address issues of leadership.

Minister of Religious Services Yakov Margi on Thursday sent a letter to Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat, Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz and Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, requesting a meeting be called in order to execute the law that calls for the establishment of a center for the "preservation of the heritage of Sephardic Jewry, its rabbis and its poets."

A day after more than 1,500 people gathered in downtown Jerusalem to protest recent violent Shabbat demonstrations by members of the capital's Haredi community in recent weeks, neither haredi leaders nor organizers of the protest gave any indication they would relent.

Nir Pereg, a spokesman from the Forum for a Free Jerusalem, a coalition of various groups that organized Saturday night's protest, said his group "wasn't scared of the haredi response."

"The rally wasn't for them," Pereg said. "It was for us, for our community and for our leaders."

Vowing to "take the city back," the protesters converged for a large rally at Zion Square, waving signs and banners carrying the slogan "Iran is here - Enough of the haredi violence."

Merav Cohen, from City Hall's Hitorerut Yerushalayim (Wake Up Jerusalem) political party, said she was thrilled to see such a large turnout.

"We were really surprised by the amount of people that showed up," Cohen told the Post after the rally had ended.

"We knew that this was an issue people cared deeply about, but to see so many Jerusalemites, and people who came from elsewhere, was really the boost we were looking for."

Cohen added that while similar rallies in the past had seen the participation of mostly secular Jerusalemites, Saturday night's modern Orthodox crowd had been an added surprise.

The march was sponsored by the Forum for a Free Jerusalem - a grouping of different citywide movements and political parties, like Hitorerut, - which began sponsoring counter-demonstrations when members of the haredi community began protesting the opening of the municipal Karta parking lot over the summer.

...Thousands of Secular, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Masorti Jews marched together peacefully down the streets of Jerusalem, demanding freedom and mutual respect in the city.

The demonstration wasn't anti-ultra Orthodox Jews. The message was positive. The demonstrators called for religious pluralism in Jerusalem. Their message was that when Gen. Motta Gur proclaimed that "the Temple Mount is in our hands," he never thought to exclude women wearingtalitotin the Kotel plaza.

The message articulated on Saturday night was that the Jerusalem's silent majority has opened its mouth - loud and clear.

The dispute with Haredi protesters over Shabbat parking near Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate has been solved, and similar bitter protests over Shabbat operations at the city's Intel plant are also well on the way to resolution, an upbeat Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said on Saturday night.

…Barkat noted that

"It took me years to help Intel reopen their plant here... There are 700 employees of Intel in Jerusalem… and some are haredi, women, Arabs, Jews, all over. And Intel is a very, very important plant in the city.

And to get them to be satisfied with their investment here is strategic for us. I believe that they are happy, and we must expand-especially in high-tech."

It would be more practical to pursue a broad-based Zionist coalition aimed at bringing together socially conservative Jerusalemites, the modern Orthodox along with progressives of various stripes to campaign for:

Protecting mixed and secular neighborhoods from haredi encroachment, while lobbying for non-luxury housing construction that caters to these demographic groups;

There are no wars in the mayor's world, at most exchanges of views. Of Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss, the leader of the Eda Haredit community - who has declared war on "rasha" (a Hebrew wordplay on "mayor of Jerusalem" and the word "wicked"), as the street posters he's signed call Barkat - the mayor says: "He is a rabbi with an important role to play in Jerusalem, and I hope the dialogue between me and his community will get on the right track, as we both hope."

The shopping center on Olswanger Street (in Kiryat Hayovel) is one of the most fascinating sites along the "seam line" between Haredim and non-Haredim.

The synagogue has turned into a magnet and symbol of the different types of tension in Jerusalem - demographic, real estate, legal and political - but this has been a quiet process.

Police blocked several dozen haredi protestors who were trying to make their way to the Intel plant in Jerusalem's Har Hotzvim industrial area on Saturday.

Despite a decision by haredi leaders in the capital to hold protests against Intel only on weekdays, some 40 ultra-Orthodox residing in nearby neighborhoods gathered outside the plant Friday night and held an impromptu rally at the site.

One of the most common stereotypes of Haredi Jews is that they are automatons, whose entire lives are determined by directives from the Torah leaders of the generation (gedolei Torah,literally, Torah giants).

…Nevertheless, the stereotype is a myth that often hampers outsiders in their efforts to comprehend events in haredi society.

Haredi society is far more dialectical than the common view holds. Change often wells up from below rather than being directed from above. Many times the Torah leaders of a particular generation adopt the public role of upholding a particular societal ideal, even as that ideal is under pressure from forces beyond their control.

We are witnessing such a process today with respect to issues concerning earning a livelihood in the haredi world.

Rony Paluch is a partner in the law firm of Hager, Paluch, and a member of the public advisory council to the State Comptroller and Ombudsman.

Israeli society cannot continue dancing at both weddings: It cannot both hate the ultra-Orthodox for their separatism and not allow them to work.

Young ultra-Orthodox men are studying very practical professions - law, accounting, computers and paramedical professions - with the fervent hope that they will integrate into workplaces, prove themselves and support their families.

If we are not given an opportunity, we will understand once and for all that the fine talk about the academic revolution is just that - fine talk.

Uri Regev, a Reform rabbi who now headsHiddush, an organization that promotes religious freedom and equality, told The Faster Times that one of the most disturbing factors of the protests is that “they threaten the continued operation of the Intel plant in Jerusalem, though it is one of the most important sources of employment and income for the city and the country.”

“It is unfortunate for Judaism and for Israel, that the debate over the nature of Shabbat in the modern democratic and Jewish State of Israel is dominated by the Ultra Orthodox.

We should all respect Shabbat, as a key contribution of Judaism to world, as a day of rest and nourishment of the soul.

The discussion as to the desirable boundaries and accommodations should involve the labor unions, the trade and commerce associations, secular, Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews alike (and non-Jewish Israelis as well).

Shabbat is far too important to be left to the extremist religious fundamentalists alone.”

The writer is vice president of research and information for Hiddush - For Religious Freedom and Equality.

The solution is not for the ultra-Orthodox to stop being ultra-Orthodox, but rather for them to start working and serving in the army, to integrate into mainstream society like Haredim in London or New York.

But the Haredi leaders lack the necessary vision, fail to understand the scope of the national threat and do everything in their power to maintain the status quo under which the men in the community do not work.

Since the Haredi community will not change voluntarily, there is no option but to make some tough decisions…

I feel for my non-Orthodox colleagues and for non–Orthodox Jews who do not have the same rights as Orthodox Jews, but there is little we can do from here except support institutions committed to religious pluralism, though even here we always need to ask at what expense, given that dollars are limited.

Is religious pluralism more important than taking care of the poor, or immigrants, or insuring a strong strategic relationship with the United States?

Let’s be honest, even when the Israeli courts order the government to address issues; the courts are ignored.

An examination conducted by the Education Ministry reveals several schools in Jerusalem have enrolled students who have never attended a class.

In recent months the Education Ministry has employed the services of private investigators following information received of suspected fictitious registration of children to ultra-Orthodox schools in Jerusalem.

The inquiries revealed that in several of the (institutions) children who were listed as students did not attend classes.

Deputy Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman has drawn a sharp rebuke from the head of the Israel Medical Association (IMA) for personally and repeatedly intervening in the care of a patient at Schneider Children's Medical Center.

…The IMA declared that Litzman had "no right to intervene" in this case. We agree. Israel can't afford to have politicians or clergymen micro-managing medical cases any more than it can tolerate having transportation ministers supplant air-traffic controllers at Ben-Gurion Airport.

If Deputy Health Minister Litzman concludes that his fiduciary responsibilities to Israel's citizens cannot be reconciled with his deeply held religious convictions, let him draw the necessary conclusions.

Rabbis in the city agreed during an emergency meeting following conversations with Illit and Hashikma to appoint inspectors to oversee the work done by the Arab workers.

Every Arab worker suspected of attempting to harm the residents or the values of the town will be kicked out.

One of the inspectors will be Rami Levi's kashrut supervisor, who will be tasked with overseeing the 40 Arab employees to ensure that they do not harm the haredi women who do their shopping at the store.

Theshtreimel, or traditional fur hat, preferred by hassidic movements originating in Galicia, Hungary and Romania, might become a difficult item to obtain if animal rights activists have their way.

Haredi legislators aggressively attacked a bill proposed by MK Ronit Tirosh (Kadima) and backed by animal rights groups that would prohibit the import of animal furs from the Far East, including China.

Dozens of chareidi women, residents of Modi’in Illit, have received notice that they are about to be unemployed as one of the area’s larger employers of women is closing its doors, ImageStore, providing electronic document archival service.

The Jerusalem Municipality is disassociating itself from the "Hamshushaliyim" events taking place on Shabbat, Army Radio reported Thursday, following pressure of ultra-orthodox factions in city hall.

Members of United Torah Judaism demanded that the notices on the events be removed from the city's official Website, as they promote cultural events, such as tours, musical performances and film screenings, which at times desecrate the sanctity of the Jewish day of rest.

The concurrent increase of poverty among the ultra-Orthodox and the working poor dispels the common excuse that ultra-Orthodox poverty is "poverty by choice," which can be escaped simply by getting a job.

It exposes this as hypocrisy, which veils the role of the dismantlement of the welfare state and organized labor.

The data in the report shows not that ultra-Orthodoxy causes poverty but rather that poor people tend to become ultra-Orthodox, as the Shas phenomenon shows.

A number of months ago, the decision was made to launch yet another hechsher in Eretz Yisrael, called theHitachdut Kehillot HaChareidimHechsher (United Chareidi Communities), composed of a few different Chassidic courts.

Included in the hechsher are a number of Chassidic courts, including Belz, Karlin, Slonim, Sanz, Erlau, Breslov and Seret Vishnitz.